So...I picked up what I thought was a mid 80's strat. Turns out it is a mid 80's strat neck on a squire body. So here are my questions.
1. The supposed Squier body has literally 18-20 pieces of laminate. I have a feeling it's going to sound like garbage. Do I waste my time with repainting? Or should I just try to find a cheap Squire made out of Alder? Agathis?

2. Is there an easy way to identify what type of wood each squier is made of?

I really like the neck and that was got me sucked into buying it. Thanks again for any info you may have.

If the guitar is comfortable and the playability is up to your standards, get it.

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In my opinion, for what it's worth, it depends on what you are planning doing to it.....

If it really is just a first project to get started tinkering, don't worry about the body too much....you don't want to get a decent body and mess it up....

As far as how it will sound, well you won't know till you plug it in and try. OK a solid wood body will, generally, be better than ply but stick ggod pickups in and you are more than half way there when it comes to sound.

Here's another thought. You love the Fender neck, so keep it aside and get a cheap Squier neck to go with the body and then just go for it with messing about. Once you get the feel for working on guitars, get a better body to put the Fender neck on and go from there........

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speak slowly I'm a drummer too!!

And I proudly lack a stick or a kazoo up my arse...........

I guess that is the direction I will go then. Repaint, upgrade the pickups and see what I have. Thanks for the input.

Hi CFletch:

Really? Care to show us a picture of that, please?



Again, show us a picture of the inside of the neck pocket. If there is visually identifiable wood that is where it will be seen.

Cheers - C

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if you have a 80 MIJ neck do yourself a favor and at least buy some mid grade quality parts for this guitar. why would you use a squier body when there are so many
nice bodies out there already painted on the cheap? screw the plywood/partical boad stuff and just buy a real body.
i mean if the neck isnt junk why put junk around it? save your cash and do it right.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

+1

No sense in casting pearls before swine.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

What body would you recommend on the cheap? There are some made out of alder on ebay that are fairly cheap. So far I only have $130 invested. I like the neck, tuners, bridge seems ok.

that would be fine.
go to STRATosphere on ebay and look. i think thats how they spell it.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Oh Jeez. Here we go again. I would agree that you probably should avoid using a laminate body (if we're talking about plywood) for the neck. But only because the end-grain of it isn't the strongest, and parts (like your strap buttons) can be ripped out of them easier. And it's not such a quick easy repair at that point.

But there are such good Squier bodies out there that are made with "tone woods" with less pieces. Some of the best bodies I have came from cheaper guitars. It's more about specs at this point. Squiers have import spaced bridges. Some people don't like that, others are fine with it (myself included).

The reason I don't mind it is:
A: my hands are pretty small
B: having a neck with a 2-1/4 heel with an import bridge gives me more room on the high E to do vibratos. It's a very big plus to me if and when I find that situation. Squier bodies can be really cool in that sense.

I'd have to say, I'm growing a little weary of the whole tonewood thing. I just did some experimenting with an Epiphone Special II recently, and no joke, it sounded just like my LP Studio with the same pickups dropped in it. It's a beater guitar, so the pickups came right back out. But it was a good personal lesson conducted for my own reasons.

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HaleAmano- House Of Sharks (Now On iTunes)
http://www.reverbnation.com/haleamano
http://www.haleamano.com

Squier bodies are not particle board, nor are they 18 to 20 slabs of laminate.

I just finished two complete rebuilds with a Squier Bullet neck and body, absolutely nothing wrong with either. Granted the neck needed to have the fretboard edges contoured, the nut was changed to bone and the frets were dressed and the neck was refinished ( that was not a necessity ) I just wanted to change the neck finish to more of an aged color.

The difference I found was that the Squier bodies are thinner than an MIA or MIM strat but it is real wood, not some glued and compressed papier-macher. The neck was well chosen and the rosewood fretboard was of a better quality than the rosewood neck of a 2001 MIA standard I used to have.

I definitely will use Squier's for future builds, since they are relatively inexpensive and I don't have to bandsaw and contour a body from a slab.

Here is some food for thought.
I would challenge anyone to pick out which body is which if you would take the same neck and pups/electronics and hardware, exchange the bodies between a couple of Squiers, a couple of MIM's and a couple of MIA's. ( All would have to be close in the price range, a Custom Shop body or high end bodies could not be compared.) This would be a blind test, with all bodies if not the same color, the same poly finish. I say good luck.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

OK...so there are what seems to be several types of woods when it comes to the Squiers. Basswood, Agathis, Alder and I would assume laminate peices with whatever wood on top. So....with all of that in mind....which type of wood should I go with? Alder seems like the best from what I have read. Of course the Alder is more expensive than Agathis & Basswood.

I typically like to play classic rock tunes, Clapton, Zeppelin. I don't play in a band..I just like to play.

Not to flog a dead horse, but the wood in the Squier is going to be a minimal factor in your sound. We are talking about a solid body electric guitar in which string vibrations are converted from an electromagnetic field disruption to an electrical signal which is then converted into an audible soundwave. ( to describe it simply ).
As far as 2, 3, 4 or even 5 piece bodies, the critical point or I should say one of the critical points would be the glue joints. Today's adhesives cure to a stronger bond than the actual wood itself. So this is not a factor as well as the glue joint is very thin, it has to be as you are joining two or more pieces which ( if looked under a microscope ) the surfaces to be joined are rough and/or have wood fibers sticking out. The adhesive needs to imbed itself in between the fibers, the fibers of the two joined pieces sort of interlock ( when clamped ) and form a formidably strong bond.

That being said, if you wanted to improve the sustain of any strat or tele or for that matter any bolt-on necked guitar. Instead of simply joining the neck to the body with four screws and a plate, a machined insert and a fine threaded set of bolts would give a stronger bond and the neck would be in the correct place everytime you dismantled and reattached it. As well as it would be instantly in tune. ( something I am seriously thinking about for the next build.) I believe Bill Kirchen does this so that he can travel on a plane with his Tele as it then fits right inside of a briefcase. ( Clever )

Alder versus Agathis versus Basswood.

Agathis...( Araucariaceae ) also called New Zealand and/or Queensland Kauri. Ranges in colors from pale biscuit to pink to dark red brown. Straight grained, uniform texture easy to work for cabinetwork, instruments, boatbuilding, domestic flooring...etc...etc..
Is not suitable for steam bending, so use in an acoustic for sides would be out of the question. So high stiffness, medium bending and crushing strentght.

Alder...Red Alder to be specific Alnus rubra ( Betaluceae ) Pale yellow to reddish brown, considered a weak softwood, medium density, low bending strentght, low stiffness and low crushing strenght. Good steam-bending qualities. Uses as we all know solid body guitar bodies, cabinetwork, interior construction, woodware, turnery, and carving.

Baswood...Tilia Americana..Also called American lime ( UK ) American Whitewood, Lime Tree.
Creamy white to pale pinkish-brown, darkens to pale brown from drying. Fine straight grain, light soft and weak wood. Low in strenght and poor steam-bending. Odour-less, used in food containers, handcarving, patternmaking, quality joinery, furniture, malletheads, beehives, piano keys, toys, plywood corestocks and veneers.

So there you have it, the common thread ( so to speak ) is that all three are straight grained woods, and similar, there is so much confusion and superstition on the woods used for guitars.
On Acoustic's, of which I'm referring to high end acoustic's $3,000.00 on up, tonewoods make an incredible difference in tone and the construction in sound projection.
In electrics, it is much more of a visual ( when using translucent or clear stains.) impact.
Les Paul proved that one with his log many decades ago, he attached jazzguitar pattern copies to the sides of the log due to negative feedback from a visual perspective.
( As far as the Frankenstrat theme, he preceded EVH by a few days... )

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Here is the proof:


About 20 different pieces of laminate.



He's an ugly duckling.........but that's what I have to work with.

might as well call it press board right?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."